


A to Z

by Danse-or-Farkas (Markond)



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 14:41:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16855891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markond/pseuds/Danse-or-Farkas
Summary: 26 small snippets of the life of Knight Nathan and Paladin Danse.





	A to Z

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slightly edited version of a challenge I did on Tumblr years ago.

 

Aftercare

 

Danse carefully and methodically catalogued every scratch and bruise, cleaning each one with a damp cloth and salve as his Knight sat with folded arms and a sour expression.

 

Some were the result of combat, the usual wear and tear of a soldiers body. All to be expected.

 

A few were related to their very recent dalliance. It had been quick and aggressive, Nate had strongly pressed for a little less reservedness and a lot more roughness. They were paying for it now, both marked by zig zag lines of nail and tooth across their back and chest. Nate was like an angry deathclaw in heat when he was frustrated.

 

Danse just kept tending to them, hands performing the tasks he had done hundreds of times before for Rhys and Haylen though in much different context. There was no tenderness to it, just quiet concentration and the familiarity of practice. They both appreciated the silence as the heat and adrenaline slowly dissipated leaving them both a little shy and awkward.

 

Body

 

Danse couldn’t help being fascinated by it. Nate had a strange talent for fine mechanics, finger deftly moving with such fine tools and perfect precision. There was a comfort to simply watching him work with his hands, idle discussion going on as he brought solder and iron to circuit and plastic. When he was finished he would always present his creation to the Paladin for approval, holding out the modified weapon with such reverence and clearly hanging on for praise. Praise came rarely and only when deserved, even with the ongoing breach of decorum they engaged in he was determined to push his soldier to reach their full potential.

 

In those shy moment when they were alone those skilled fingers felt so warm and soft threaded with his own, a lifetime of scar and callous marring them. Nate didn’t seem to mind. It was his fingers he was fascinated by.

 

Knight Nathan, if asked, would state with a grin and a lecherous laugh that his favourite part of Danse was exactly the part he was expected to answer.

 

If a little discretion was needed he would say Danse’s chest, broad and strong.

 

If he was being honest he would say eyes. Danse had an unwavering stare, intense and unyielding. Most would flinch from it, he found he couldn’t tear himself away from it.

 

Clean-up

 

“I’m sorry.” The colour Danse had turned was alarming, the glow of his cheeks so bright it could be mistaken for incandescent in the dim light of his quarters.

 

“Nothing to apologise about.” Nate shrugged, scooping up his undershirt from the floor. Sex was like fighting ferals; upclose, personal, exhilarating and every so often you got splashed with bodily fluids. He would give up neither.

 

He wiped the dripping line from hip to shoulder whilst being impressed just how far it had fired. He took a mental note about it, he would likely need goggles if he planned to not lose an eye to it in future.

 

He bundled the dirtied shirt up and tossed it to Danse.

 

 

Dirty Secret

 

“Can we stop a moment?” Danse held him in place by his hips, bringing him to a halt.

 

“Sure. Something wrong?” With a swing of his body he was off Danse and laying next to him, watching the conflict play across his features.

 

“Its something embarrassing. I trust you’ll not make this common knowledge.” The Paladin reached under his bed frame and brought back up a small tin.

 

“You have my word.” Curiosity and apprehension filled him to the brim as he wondered what was inside the little box. His imagination ran riot, all manner of debauched suggestions filling it to the brim. He was unsure if he ought to be delighted or terrified.

 

“Sometimes when I am…” He tried to find an appropriate word for what they were doing. “…engaged in recreational activities, I get the strongest urge to stop and have a snack break half way through. I find my performance dips below expectation if I don’t.”

 

He opened the tin, offering them a snack cake.

 

Nate silently took one, keeping his face carefully blank and neutral. There was a moments delay as his brain switched tracks and repeated what had been said back to him.

 

He was expecting something very different; strange devices, clamps, handcuffs, even a collar. The thought of Danse in a collar brought a grin to his lips.

 

“A snack break is perfectly fine.” Nate had to resist the urge to say something else.

 

‘I came here expecting to shove something into my mouth.’ was on the tip of his tongue the entire time he chewed on the cake.

 

Danse awkwardly brushed crumbs off himself before casually suggesting they got back to the main event at hand.

 

Experience

 

A hangover and an unfamiliar bed greeted him. The ceiling above wasn’t his own. He rolled to see who he had shared it with, a shock of short blond hair poking out from the covers accompanied by heavy breathing. Cutler.

 

He couldn’t be certain if it was a mistake or not.

 

It was Cutlers idea initially. Neither of them had partners, they were both pent up and frustrated, the recent run of bad trading had stressed them both out and they needed to unwind. Danse had said he would consider it, opting to get drunk on whatever the hell they were brewing on the lower decks of the boat. Brake fluid and short term blindness most likely.

 

He remembered agreeing to it in the end, the pair of them getting so deeply inebriated before the act itself it was lucky anything got done at all.

 

It wasn’t regrettable, he just couldn’t see Cutler as anything but a friend even after what they had just done. Cutler had the kind of casual detachment about sex he just didn’t understand, never investing himself emotionally. It wasn’t likely to happen again between them.

 

 

Favourite

 

It had taken some interesting positioning and practice to get right, all on Danse’s insistence.

 

Nate had initially been annoyed by the whole thing. Now that they got it right he could understand it. He was in Danse’s lap, arms wrapped around him and chests pressed flush against each other. The height difference between them evened out and meant they were face to face.

 

It was incredibly intimate and personal.

 

He had expected Danse to be bland and missionary, as orderly and predictable in the bedroom as he was on the battlefield. Instead he had insisted on this closeness. It had caught him by surprise, but really he couldn’t complain.

 

It was understandable for a man who lived nearly constantly wrapped in a layer of armoured steel to crave such close touch. Nate wasn’t going to turn him down, there was something more to it than just the sex. A need for that closeness and trust.

 

When he thought about it it made his heart flutter slightly. Danse trusted him enough to let him that close, see him that vulnerable. He hadn’t expected feelings to come into it when he sought to bed his superior officer. He would need time to think about it.

 

Gambling

 

“Ad Victoriam.” He let a smile tug at the edge of his lips before his brow furrowed and eyes screwed shut. His breath stilled, a last single thrust held in deep.

 

His partner looked up at him, blinking a few times and clearly running through it again in their head certain they had misheard.

 

“Did you just…” Nate’s brow folded in on itself in confusion. He had actually said it.

 

His ears were ringing, his body still trembling, and now he was certain he owed Hancock and MacCready caps. They had both bet that Danse said it when he came. Cait was certain he would yell Elder Maxsons name instead.

 

Nate just grinned back, shaking his head lightly to scatter all the loose thoughts. Danse let the smile get just slightly wider in response.

 

 

Hair

 

Nate was amusing himself by gently running his fingers through Danse’s fuzzy chest, tracing the scars with fascination. He seemed quite contented to do this and not break the peaceful silence.

 

Danse felt unusually self conscious at his actions, the close scrutiny made him unsettled without armour to retreat to. They were both naked, head still full of the buzz and afterglow of the last hours activities.

 

Fingers followed the outline of a fairly deep gouge from hip to thigh, the hair on his legs a little lighter than his chest.

 

The Paladin had to wonder what it was he was seeing. He had always thought the Old World saw smooth and hairless as handsome, the mirror opposite of himself. But here was a man that saw skin mottled and crossed by scars and dusted with dark fuzz and could only describe it as perfect.

 

He had always thought that accepting compliments as a mark of vanity but the way Nate said how handsome he was made something in his chest tighten and thunder, and brought a soft smile to his lips.

 

 

Intimate

 

“I love you, you know that right?” It was barely audible, between a whimper and moan, but it was enough to stop the action for a moment as Danse brought his hand up to cup his cheek and plant a kiss on his lips in response.

 

“I know.” The former Paladin smiled softly at him. There was always that moment of doubt that needed to be chased away, that lingering reminder at the edge of his thoughts telling him that he wasn’t human and didn’t deserve it.

 

Danse pulled him closer, chest pressed to chest so close they could feel their heartbeats pumping, Danse’s sharp stubble prickling along his soldiers cheek.

 

He breathed a contented sigh before an insistent cough and a hard clenching of muscle reminded him they were in the middle of something.

 

 

Jack

 

With a bucking of his hips he finished, the name in his head spilling out his lips as a growl. The old bed frame squeaked as he settled back into it, eyes focussed on the steel ceiling.

 

Carefully regulating his breathing he brought his heart rate back down and let the tingling feel dissipate from his body. He reached for a cloth after what felt like several seconds, cleaning himself off.

 

The sound of slow clapping snapped his attention to the door, heart instantly in his throat.

 

Knight Nathan stopped his clapping but not the dark smile and intense look of desire he wore.

 

“If I knew you were missing me that much I would have hurried back.”

 

 

Kinky

 

“Stubborn. Insubordinate. You could have gotten Rhys killed.” Danse didn’t have to raise his voice, he could give a damn good dressing down just with tone and force of presence and that was something he prided himself on. That infuriating smirk on the Knight was nearly enough to make him break from it and let a little of that simmering anger loose.

 

“No great loss.” Nate snorted, realising a little too late that it was not the right thing to say. Danse took a step forward, so close Nate could feel his restrained fury through the sharp breaths he was taking.

 

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t have you brought up on charges and punished.”

 

“That depends how I’m being punished, Sir.” That grin split a little wider and the expression a little darker.

 

Danse felt a strong twitch run from his loins up his spine and back down again, the feeling strange and familiar.

 

It felt like lust cast in the same mold as anger. He was infuriated, but there was something about the way he had said 'Sir’ that had sparked a fire in him.

 

“Fine, punishment it is Soldier.” Danse closed the last inch of distance, letting the irritation push him a little harder into the kiss than was usual.

 

Nate let a whimper of 'Sir, please’ free in the moment he had to catch his breath, Danse instantly too warm and confined in his uniform.

 

There was something so utterly wrong about it, an abuse of decorum, protocol and command structure that should have horrified him. And it didn’t, it just made his heart pound and his mind burn with need.

 

 

Location

 

Two bedrolls, two Paladins and a blanket of stars above them. The whole thing had been oddly romantic, the warm summer night, the clear sky and bright moonlight, the quietly muttered praise that bordered on worship and the time afterwards when they lay entwined in each other.

 

They both now sat looking up at the night sky, quietly satisfied with their company.

 

The city was so far away it could barely be seen, the Prydwen and all the trouble it had brought them on the other side of it. Nobody would look for them so far away.

 

It had been Danse that had started it this time, and Nate thought he understood why. There was a hopeless romantic somewhere in that steel shell that liked the idea of doing it with only the sky as their witness.

 

 

Motivation

 

They sat for hours just talking, huddled close to the fire and wrapped together in a heavy blanket. The night air was biting and made little better by close contact and flame.

 

Conversation had turned idle, little more than exchanging stories about their lives and coming to a better understanding of each other.

 

Nate was fascinated by all the reckless things he had done as an Initiate and as a Knight. Cutler featured heavily in those stories, the impulsive abandon to balance out Danse with his stubborn adherence to rules. The far away look he had retelling those tales was good to see as he was immersed in happier times.

 

Danse loved hearing about the Old World and the things that were so normal then that seemed so strange and distant now.

 

It was only as the night dragged on and the fire started to grow dim did Danse stop all talk by gently bringing his hand to Nate’s jaw and turning his head to face him. There had been enough sharing of words for the night, now it was time for sharing of touch and feeling.

 

 

NO

 

Danse slammed the door in his face having made his stance very clear on the subject.

 

Hancock sighed slightly and with a shake of his head returned to his little corner of Sanctuary, home away from Goodneighbour.

 

The former Paladin was fuming, trying not to let it break his calm exterior.

 

He would never accept a threesome with that abominable creature, and Nate certainly wouldn’t either no matter how deeply their friendship ran.

 

It was only later when his thoughts ran cool again did he stop and think.

 

Nate was willing to share his body with a synth. Was there really a difference, were all abominations made equal?

 

 

Oral

 

Nate sipped at his drink, expression distant and distracted.

 

Haylen want going to ask him what he was thinking about, a brief smile tugging at his lips every now and again at whatever it was he was thinking about. She had long ago learnt that Nate had the most inane and rambling thought process with little or no filter on it.

 

His thoughts were centred on a single thing. Enthusiasm counts for a lot, but it doesn’t beat practice. Danse was unpractised, but he was certainly going to enjoy teaching him the proper way to do it. He liked to think he was a good teacher, and he was very eager to demonstrate first hand the proper technique.

 

 

Pace

 

 

The Paladin let the slightest smile tug at his lips at the Knight beneath him growling and protesting the slow pace. He took every second he needed to just touch and feel, savour every moment of contact and connection.

 

Every complaint died easily with the slightest roll of his hips inwards, Nate shuddering and near melting into it.

 

Impulsive and impatient, the Knight always wanted to get right into the action. Life was too short for patience.

 

Experienced and perseverant, The Paladin was determined to take his time and not waste the opportunity. Life was too short to burn through the good moments at speed.

 

He pushed forward again, the clench of fingers into the bedsheets and a sharp exhale answering him. The Knight buried his face in the pillow, too proud to beg and too pent up and frustrated to be certain his pride wouldn’t break first.

 

He let the slightest needy whine 'Danse’ free, the pillow not muffling it quite enough.

 

The Paladin gently ran his palms up the arch of his back and kneaded the tense muscle gently, reassuring him. There would be time later for urgency and speed.

 

 

Quick

 

Three sharp taps on the door came before the bulkhead door swung open. Nate checked the corridor once before stepping into Danse’s quarters, sealing the door behind him.

 

“Seventeen minutes.” There was a timer up on the pipboy.

 

Maxson had been called away from his quarters on a minor complaint down in the airport so the adjacent room was empty. Kells was not off duty for evidently another fifteen minutes, it taking another two to cross the ship. There was nobody patrolling that part of the ship presently to overhear them. This had been carefully calculated.

 

That left them precious little time and from the look in Nate’s eyes he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. They had done this a few times already, each time parting just at the right moment.

 

Danse slowly and carefully put down his reading, the eager Knight already stripping and impatient. He was happy to burn off a minute or so just to watch him grow restless, stood naked, ready and watching the seconds slip away on the green screen now propped up on a pile of discarded clothing.

 

“Better make them count then.” It was like a floodgate had been opened, the naked Knight practically throwing himself into Danse’s lap. “Fourteen minutes, twenty two seconds.”

 

Reminding him how much time they had left was a certain way to add urgency to his actions.

 

A little over thirteen minutes later the Knight was out of the quarters, nodding politely to Kells as they crossed paths.

 

Risk 

 

“No.” Danse looked down at the Knight, shooting down what was likely a very carefully constructed plan.

 

“Can I ask why?” Nate had already accepted the rejection, he was just curious what he had missed.

 

“The risk is too high and there are too many variables you cannot predict or account for. All it takes is a team returning early to catch us, or a scribe working late. I won’t put my position in danger to satisfy your unusual desires.”

 

“Understood.” Nate had thought he had covered all the angles. He tried not to be too disappointed.

 

Danse had to wonder just why the Knight wanted to have sex in a vertibird docked on the flight deck of all places. His quarters were perfectly fine.

 

 

 

Stamina

 

 

“Long night?” Haylen looked up from her requisition report at the approach of Knight Nathan. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all after a very long day of work. His condition was strange, the last week had them going on no field missions to run him down so badly.

 

“Didn’t sleep.” It was muttered and agitated.

 

He slipped into his usual chair in the mess hall, slouching into it as he sipped at a bottle of Nuka Quantum and prayed for the caffeine to do something for him.

 

“What were you doing instead?” Haylen noticed the slight stiffen of his body and the momentary engaging of mental processes vastly over taxed and under fuelled.

 

“Training exercises.” She could spot the lie instantly.

 

Danse entered the mess hall and took the last remaining chair. It was unusual for him not to be the first one there.

 

“Feeling alright sir.” Rhys piped up, noting the bleariness of his expression.

 

“Training exercises, up all night.” Danse had a cup of what passed for coffee in his hands. The slight bruise on his neck peeking out from his collar made it evident exactly what those training exercises entailed. That was a bite.

 

Rhys shot Haylen a knowing look. Neither of them commented.

 

Maxson, who unfortunately shared a wall with Danse, didn’t comment either when he entered the mess looking as tired as they did. His sleep had been ruined by the sound of a steel bed frame hitting the bulkhead for several hours.

 

 

Toy

 

 

Danse looked at the obscene thing. An Old World device of some kind, bright pink and made in the image of human male genitalia though exaggerated in size to the point of being ridiculous. When they started scouring the ruins of this tiny shop for mechanical parts this had not been what he expected to find. The sign on the door he had thought was the Roman numerals for thirty, it had evidently meant something else entirely.

 

Nate flicked a small switch on the bottom. It started vibrating, the upper half spinning and pulsing rhythmically.

 

The Paladin looked at it with undisguised horror, knowing exactly where it was meant to go and wondering just why the people of the old world employed such terrifying devices.

 

Ignoring the bark of laughter from Knight Nathan he marched promptly out of the shop. They would have to report back to the Prydwen that nothing of value had been found.

 

Unfair

 

“I could make it an order.” If it wasn’t for the slightest hint of a smile Nate would have thought he was being serious.

 

“Danse, you can’t do this to me. A whole week without any. Its barbaric. I have needs, I have urges.” Nate wasn’t being entirely serious either, but that shiver running up his spine was making him nervous anyway.

 

“That was an interesting way to say 'yes, sir’ Soldier.” Danse kept his tone commanding and authoritative. “I will be gone for a few days. Nothing but cold showers for those urges until I get back. Is that understood?”

 

“Yes, sir.” Nate saluted. Danse playing the role of superior officer was a sure way to get him pent up. He was not going to last the week with his sanity intact.

 

 

Volume

 

Danse clamped a hand over his mouth, inhaling and exhaling sharply through his nose as he held back the urge to buck his hips. His heart thundered in his chest, his movements each dangerously loud as his senses were overwhelmed.

 

In the next tent over Rhys was staring, blankly, up at the canvas roof above his head. He was wishing he was anywhere but there. He now knew exactly what noises his commanding officer made whilst climaxing. This was information he could certainly have gone to his grave not knowing.

 

On the opposite side was Haylen trying her hardest to not laugh, partially at the ridiculousness of the entire situation and a large part her own embarrassment.

 

When morning came Danse was inside his armour, helmet locked firmly in place. Even with a layer of steel he couldn’t quite bring himself to look the team in the eye for fear of seeing any hint they had overheard.

 

Nate just grinned at the damning look Rhys gave him. Haylen made no effort to acknowledge any of it had happened.

 

 

Wild Card

 

“Danse?” Nate looked through him at first, not immediately recognising him.

 

“Am I really that different? It was vastly overdue.” The Paladin had his hair cropped short and was freshly shaved. The newly promoted Knight was just staring blankly at him, uncertain how to feel. Danse had gone from being ruggedly handsome to something else entirely. Still handsome, but more civil.

 

“It different from what I’m used to. Certainly won’t say it looks bad.”

 

 

X-Ray

 

 

“I would appreciate it if you said something.” Danse was stood bolt straight, uncertainty starting to gnaw at his resolve. His arms were folded neatly behind his back, strongly resisting the urge to cover himself.

 

Nate had been full of swagger and confidence as Danse had unlatched and unzipped his suit under an appreciative gaze. His expression went blank other than two short blinks and a nervous swallow when Danse lowered his underwear and stood naked for him to survey.

 

Words were attempted, instead he moved his jaw a few times and made noises. He paused for a moment and simply said 'yes’ without once breaking eye contact with it. He was certainly not regretting his decision, but he might the following day when he had to recover from it.

 

 

Yearning

 

Nate looked down at his pipboy and then back up at his notes. Gladius team was assembled in the mess hall dealing with breakfast and catching up on reports before their latest mission.

 

Three days. Whenever he approached Danse in a shorter space of time he would be rebuffed. When the Paladin sought him out it was always three days after their last encounter, almost to the minute.

 

He was making himself look busy working this out instead of filing his ammo requisition.

 

Every three days, if a mission landed at the same time he would approach on the evening of the next free day and the counter would start again.

 

He raised an eyebrow at this, the dates confirming it without doubt. Ordered, precise, cyclical. It was Danse through and through.

 

He made certain to have the next evening open, putting a mark in his pipboy calendar for it.

 

Danse had to wonder why Knight Nathan was smiling at him knowingly. He chose to ignore it and returned to reading his report.

 

 

ZZZ

 

 

It had been an hour. What had been a hot night that ran slick with sweat and exertion had turned to dull ache of tiredness and biting chill as the night set in.

 

Danse stayed awake, happy to let his Soldier sleep whilst he kept his guard up. They had bared the entrance to the building and occupied the highest floor but it still wouldn’t be enough to deter the horrors that might sneak in if he let his attention slip. He now had the additional worry that a Brotherhood patrol might sweep through the area and discover them. The once comforting sound of power armour in action now filled him with dread.

 

He gently stroked Nate’s hair whenever he seemed to twitch in his sleep until he was resting peacefully again.

 

In another hour he would set up some remote sensors around all the entrances and in all the stairwells, planting a few mines whilst he was at it. He would get a few hours rest once dawn start peeking through the windows.

 

He couldn’t help but replay those words again in his mind, muttered to him just as his Soldier slipped into sleep.

 

“Love you Danse.”

 


End file.
